The Wounded Puppy
by Tsuyu-the-Hanyou
Summary: Tsuyu is half human and half dog demon, and she can change into a dog. When she gets hurt and changes her form, she gets found by Kohaku! She has to continue her journey, in order to avenge her brother, but can she really leave her heart behind? KohakuXOC
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: I don't own any of the characters from Inu Yasha (I wish I did). Tsuyu and any other new characters belong to me!!!

'Crap' Tsuyu thought. 'Crap, crap, crap!' Tsuyu barely made it into hiding as the angry ox-demon stomped past her hiding place. Tsuyu waited, silent as a mouse, listening for any sounds that would signal that the 'baka-ox-head', as she called him, had returned. Finally, she sighed in relief, climbed down from the tree and grasped her bleeding and sprained left arm with a hiss of pain. 'Note to self' she thought 'until I find father's sword, don't annoy demons who are twice my size!' 

(2 Days later)

"Damn it to all the hells!!!" Tsuyu knew two things about her situation: 1. Her wound was not healing, at all, and 2. She was, embarrassingly, lost. "Who ever heard of a dog-demon, even a half-breed, who got lost?" Tsuyu grumbled. Then an idea struck her: she could transform! If her body got smaller during the transformation, then surely her wound would become smaller too! Tsuyu closed her golden eyes and concentrated hard. Slowly her pure white hair changed into pure white fur that covered her body in a semi-long coat as her body changed its shape. Her cupid's bow mouth became a cute muzzle with rows of sharp teeth. Her nose became a cute, black snout. Her ears and tail remained the same.

As she had hoped, her wound had become smaller, however, between the blood loss and the amount of energy it took to transform, Tsuyu was feeling quite faint. Having to limp on only three legs didn't help either. Suddenly she stumbled into a clearing. There, in the centre, was a human boy, no older than her, with a cat-demon!! Tsuyu was so surprised that she just stood there, in shock.

"Kirara, stop it! That tickles!" Kohaku laughed as the little cat-demon licked him. Suddenly the cat turned away, her ears twitching, and hissed. "Huh? What is it, Kirara?" Kohaku turned and saw the prettiest puppy he'd ever seen! She was pure white, with cute ears that poked straight up, golden eyes, a cute nose and long bushy tail. Then he saw the wound. A jagged cut running up the pup's front left leg, it was plain to see that it was not only fresh but it also looked infected. Slowly he walked over to the pup. She stood as if frozen in shock. When Kohaku was a foot away from her, the pup gave a soft yip and passed out.

Every single one of Tsuyu's instincts clamoured at her to run away but it was as if someone had turned her into a statue. No matter how hard she pleaded with her body, she couldn't move an inch as the human boy came closer. Suddenly everything was turning black and she yipped a soft complaint before passing out. The last thing she saw was the boy coming over to her with concern in his eyes.

AN: Sorry that it's so short! But I will require two reviews, minimum, before I put up chapter # 2!!! So please review!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I don't own anything except Tsuyu and any other new characters!

The first thing Tsuyu noticed was the smell of herbs. Healing herbs. She slowly opened her eyes and discovered that she was in an unfamiliar room. She started to panic, 'Where am I?' when a noise behind the door stopped her. Someone was coming! She got to her paws a little unsteadily, and started to back away from the door. When the door opened, Tsuyu tensed, ready to run through the door to freedom. However, the door was closed before she had a chance to run, by the boy that she had seen before. She backed away even further from the boy and gave a low warning growl.

Kohaku was surprised, to say the least! The healer had said that the pup would probably sleep for the rest of the day. But now, barely one hour after the healer had left, was the pup! Wide awake and growling. "Hi there! I was starting to think that you would sleep forever!" Kohaku smiled and came closer, but slowly so as to prevent the dog from panicking.

'Stupid human! Stay away from me!!!' Tsuyu was beyond scared, she was petrified! The boy was coming closer and closer and she was far too weak to stop him. Finally, he reached out and Tsuyu snapped her eyes shut, waiting for the smack to the head or the yank on her neck fur. Instead she felt a hand, scratching her ears! She had to admit, the boy was _good_ at giving ear scratches!!! Almost as good as her mother had been.

(2 hours later)

'Ooh yeah! Don't stop!!!' Tsuyu was now on her side, receiving a belly-rub from this god of good scratches. Kohaku chuckled, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you like this!!!" Tsuyu looked at him, 'Was my father the Demon Lord of the Western Lands? Of course I like this!!!' Suddenly Tsuyu's stomach gave a semi-loud growl. Kohaku smiled, "Looks like you're hungry! Me too! I'll go get some dinner for us!" As he left the room, Tsuyu thought, 'Dinner? Guess I was out longer than I thought.'

Tsuyu's ears pricked up when she heard Kohaku's voice, talking to someone. Her nose told her that he was bringing something to eat. However, she didn't recognise the voice of the person with Kohaku, although she could tell that the person was female. "Wait until you see her, Sango!!! She's beautiful!!!" "She must be, if you spent all afternoon playing with her!" When Tsuyu heard that comment, her tongue lolled out of her mouth in happy pants. 'Not only does he give good scratches, but he's obviously got good taste too!'

When the door opened this time, it revealed Kohaku and a young woman with her brown hair pulled into a half ponytail, wearing a green skirt as well as a pink and white kimono top. She also had a warrior's wrist and ankle protectors. 'Uh-oh! I know that smell! She's a demon slayer! This is not good!!!' Tsuyu backed up from the door and gave a scared, meek little yip.

Kohaku looked over at the pup in surprise. "Hey, it's ok! This is my sister, Sango. She won't hurt you!" Tsuyu sidled around until she had Kohaku between her and Sango. Only then did she relax, a little, and start to eat the cooked meat that Kohaku had brought back for her to eat. "You were right, Kohaku! She's beautiful!!!" Sango had crouched down to Tsuyu's level while Tsuyu ate and was holding her hand out for the pup to sniff.

Tsuyu decided to keep pretending to be just a normal dog. 'At least until my wound is healed! Then I'll get out of here with out anyone being the wiser!' Tsuyu thought as she gave the required sniff to Sango's hand, receiving a good ear scratch in return. 'At least I can get some pampering while I'm here!' Tsuyu thought as she wagged her tail.

AN: I hate you people!!! Only one person reviewed!!! ONLY ONE!!! Well screw you all from now on I'll just update when I want to or when someone gives me a particularly nice review!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I don't own anything except Tsuyu and any other new characters! But all who read my story should know that it's thanks to Ichigo-2007's review that I remembered to update!

(1 week later…)

Tsuyu was starting to feel like this place, the slayer's village, could be an actual home for her, but she knew that she had to leave soon. 'The longer I stay in this form, the harder it will be to turn back into my true form!' Tsuyu was going to miss the village a lot though, especially the part of having a good meal everyday! However, she knew that above all else, she would miss Kohaku the most! She decided to leave on the night of her weakness, the night after the first night of the new moon!

That day she stuck close to Kohaku, never letting him out of her sight. This confused Kohaku, as the puppy was usually hanging out near the kitchens or the front gate, but today she was always with him. They were coming back from gathering herbs that the village healer needed, he was carrying a basket in his hands, while she was carrying one in her teeth, when he asked, "Are you trying to tell me something, Yuki?"

Tsuyu sighed, 'Yuki… snow… his nickname for me… I'm going to miss you, Kohaku, but I don't know how to tell you that!' She walked back to the village with the boy who, she feared, she had lost her heart to. 'I want to stay… but I have to find father's sword first, before teme-aniki-san finds out about its existence. It's the only way to avenge my brother's death!'

When they arrived at the village, the sun had just started to set. 'I don't have much time left…' Tsuyu sighed, then, when Kohaku left for training, walked over to Kirara. 'Hey Ki! I know you can understand me.' Kirara looked at Tsuyu and meowed. 'I have to leave… tonight. But I… just… look after Kohaku, ok?' Kirara meowed and gave a cat-grin. 'Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, kitty! You're lucky that I need you to look after Kohaku or you'd be dinner!' Tsuyu snorted and walked into the garden to wait for sunset.

Soon she could feel the transformation start. Her fur darkened and became glossy black hair that hung down to the middle of her back. Her ears lost their fur and pointed shape as they became curved and moved down to the sides of her head. Her fangs and tail disappeared, although her simple blue tunic-like half kimono reappeared. Finally, her eyes took on the same colour of violet that had been her mother's eye colour.

'Great. Now how am I going to get away, looking like this?' Tsuyu was now in one of the bushes near the door to Kohaku's room. He always left the door open so she could come and go as she pleased. 'What to do? What to do?! I can't just leave! Knowing Kohaku, he'd start searching all over for me!' Suddenly Tsuyu heard a soft clink and looked down.

'Of course! My necklaces! That's how I'll leave and let him know I'm OK!' Around Tsuyu's neck were two pendants, one from her mother and Tsuyu's original necklace. Her father had given them to Tsuyu and her mother as a gift for his 'ladies'. They were identical in appearance, both were discs that were 1-inch deep, 1½-inches wide and each had a small dog's fang encased in each one. The discs were also made of amber.

'Kohaku's name means amber, and with the fang inside of it, I'm sure he'll know it's from me.' Tsuyu crept quietly towards the half-open door to Kohaku's room. She silently slipped inside and found Kohaku's bed, with him fast asleep inside it. Tsuyu slowly removed her mother's necklace and held it in her hands. She hesitated, then placed the necklace beside Kohaku's head. Then, slowly, she leaned forward and brushed his lips with her own. Now blushing like crazy, Tsuyu stood, then gave Kirara a scratch on the ears and left.

Author's Note: Sorry that it's so short but the next chapter is the last one for this segment of Tsuyu's Tale! So stay tuned!!! And please review!!! It makes me happy!!! And happy authors write faster!!!


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I don't own anything except Tsuyu and any other new characters!

(Moments before dawn…)

She knew that she should have left by now. She was probably already pushing her luck but… she wanted to see Kohaku's reaction and his face just one last time. Finally, the sun rose and Tsuyu resumed her dog form, as she always changed back into the form she had been in before her blood changed.

She looked down on the village from the cliff at the village's back. From there she could easily see the headman's house and Kohaku's room. Suddenly her ears heard Kohaku calling, "Yuki? Yuki!! Where are you?!". Tsuyu had to stubbornly push down the instinct to go to him. Finally he came out into the garden and Tsuyu's heart clenched as her keen eyes told her that he was crying.

Kohaku had experienced a strange dream, in which a beautiful girl kissed him lightly on the lips, then changed into Yuki. He had woken up with a start after that point, but to his shock and surprise, he had found the same necklace that the girl in his dream had been wearing, beside his bed!!! Slightly panicking, he had started calling for Yuki, only to find her gone. Thinking she was outside, he rushed out into the garden, ignoring the hot tears of fear, pouring down his cheeks. 'Please be here! Please!!!' Kohaku thought desperately.

Tsuyu desperately wanted to go to Kohaku but she knew that the longer she stayed the more it would hurt when she left. "Yuki!!!" Kohaku's half-sobbing cry was too much for Tsuyu. She gave a loud bark.

Kohaku's head snapped up and soon found the pure white shape of Yuki on the cliff behind the village. He opened his mouth to call to her when he saw her eyes. Even at the great distance between them, he could clearly see the intense sorrow in her golden eyes.

Tsuyu tipped her head back and voiced a howl that she hadn't loosed since the day of her mother's death: a howl of pure sorrow. When the howl's echo finally died, Tsuyu gave Kohaku one last sorrow-filled look, then she turned away and ran into the woods. She only went about 2 feet into the forest when she stopped and turned back into her original self.

Kohaku stared at where Yuki had been, and then he slowly put the necklace on. Turning away, back to the village, he whispered "Goodbye, Yuki."

From her place in the forest, Tsuyu heard him and for the second time in her whole life, she cried. Then crying, she turned and ran into the woods.

Author's Note: Sorry that it's so short but the next chapter is the epilogue for this segment of Tsuyu's Tale! So stay tuned!!! And please review!!! It makes me very, very happy!!!


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